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This collection contains 12 letters from Union soldier Aaron Ingraham to his parents and sisters from 1861 to 1862, while he served in the 48th New York Infantry. Ingraham described his experiences at Camp Sherman in Washington D.C.; Annapolis, Maryland; Hilton Head, South Carolina; Camp Perry at Daufuskie Island, South Carolina; and Fort Pulaski, Georgia.

The Aaron H. Ingraham papers contain 12 letters from a Union soldier to his parents and sisters from 1861 to 1862, while he served in the 48th New York Infantry. In them, he provided a description of his daily activities and responsibilities, and included basic information on troop movements. As Ingraham traveled from Camp Sherman in Washington D.C. to Annapolis, Maryland, Hilton Head, South Carolina, Camp Perry at Daufuskie Island, South Carolina, and finally to Fort Pulaski, Georgia, he described each of these settings. For instance, he reported that Annapolis was "a mere nothing, the houses being of inferior size and quality. The streets narrow and running in every direction but straight and there is naut of life and activity which makes it seem like anything but a northern city." In a letter to his sister, he mentioned a conversation with a free African American woman in Annapolis about her children whom had been taken north (October 17, 1861). Later letters concern the fortifications of Hilton Head and the effectiveness of mail delivery to the forts. Though he often described the monotonous life of a soldier, and complained about poor food and his lack of money, he used his keen sense of observation to highlight interesting events in the forts. The January 20, 1862, letter provides a wonderful account of eating at the fort and his excitement about receiving ginger snaps and bread in the mail. In this letter he also mentioned a friend who drowned after walking over the side of a boat in his sleep. Letters from November 29, 1861, and February 12, 1862, both recount instances of friendly fire. Ingraham wrote the letter of March 30, 1862, from Fort Pulaski, just after the Union captured the fort. He reported a rumor that Jefferson Davis was captured by Union troops, but he believed the rumors unfounded. While he held strong anti-Confederate views, he was not an abolitionist. In the final letter in the collection, he noted that slavery should simply be allowed to die out or at least contained in current slave territories.

The letter from January 9, 1862, has a red and blue patriotic engraved image of a woman carrying an American flag.

The Orson D. and Mary L. Johnson papers contain letters of Civil War soldier Orson Johnson to his wife from August 29-December 28, 1862, during his service in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers and during his stay in a military hospital.

The Orson D. and Mary L. Johnson papers (35 items) contain 27 letters between Orson Johnson and his wife Mary from August 29-December 28, 1862, while he served in the 22nd Wisconsin Volunteers. Also included are 4 items from other family members and another Wisconsin Infantry service member, a photograph of Mary Johnson, and 2 poems clipped from a newspaper.

The letters between the Johnsons are tender, though Orson often complains of not receiving enough letters from his wife. Mary's letters provide a view of the hardships of trying to care for two children as a single mother living in Wisconsin. Orson tries to offer advice on how to manage the household and finances and is sympathetic to her difficulties. The letters offer little information related to military activities but reveal the mental and physical toll the war is taking on the family. In Orson's later letters, he discussed getting wounded, hospitalized, and discharged in early 1863 because of a disability. Orson first mentioned his time in a military hospital in November 23, 1862, and a friend wrote a letter for Orson on December 8, 1862, because he was not well enough to compose it himself. By December 18th he was well enough to write again but was discharged soon after.

This collection also holds one letter from Maria H. Stone to her brother, Orson D. Johnson and an item from H.L. Stone and O.D. Johnson to their "Dear Uncle." The final two dated letters are from privates in Co. G of the 43rd Wisconsin Infantry, one of them signed William L. Shumway, both addressed to siblings (1865). The last dated letter concerns some thoughts on Lincoln’s recent death and the end of the war (April 28, 1865). Both the 22nd Regiment, of which Orson was a member, and the 43rd Regiment were in the Army of the Cumberland at the time that these letters were written, though in different brigades. It appears that both of these regiments were involved in the defense of Nashville and the surrounding area in early 1865, making it possible that the soldiers' paths crossed.

This collection also contains a photograph of a Mary L. Johnson and two poems entitled The Wife of the Volunteers andThe American Girl , both clipped from newspapers.

The collection contains two illustrations. The letter from September 18, 1862, has a blue patriotic "head quarters" stamp depicting an eagle, a flag, and bayonets. The letter from October 7, 1862, has a large patriotic engraving for the letterhead depicting an angel with a sword leading the charge of a company of Union men, with a small Confederate flag in the distance.